Journeys in Community pages 9b.qxp_Layout 2 21/07/2020 17:46 Page 11
Journeys in Community 11
Introduction (John and Ruth) Leader: How good and how lovely it is All: To live together in community. These words, part of the morning service in Iona Abbey, resonate deeply for any who have lived together in community. Yes, indeed, it can be ‘good and lovely’ to share deeply and dream widely with others in community, to share the ‘common life’ of eating, sleeping, washing, cleaning, praying and working that is formed in intentional community. It is also hard work, exhausting and for some may even be painful to live together in this way – where the challenge of finding space alone in the midst of noise can be overwhelming, and the relentless effort of engaging with others seems to leave little space for growth. Spending an intense 10 years in intentional community as a family, we grew together, children and adults, in a unique way: John in his early ministry, with Molly, as part of the Gorbals Group Ministry, then as part of the newly formed Resident Group on Iona; Ruth as their child, born in Gorbals, and moving with John, Molly and her siblings to Iona aged 5. And perhaps in community we also grew apart in tender ways not easy to articulate: saw the spaces between us in the forming and re-forming of communal life on a weekly basis in Glasgow and in Iona Abbey, which we were both privileged to share. Here then we offer reflections on the outworking of part of our shared spiritual journey, honed over years of father-daughter conversation and sharing. We don’t pretend to offer reflections on behalf of our wider family – that would be a whole other work. Instead, we simply offer thoughts, reflections and meditations focused around parts of the Christian year that have been formative to both of us, and looked at through the lens of life in intentional community.
